Vehicles continue to add technology to assist, entertain, and/or provide a comfortable environment for occupants of the vehicle. For example, and not by way of limitation, navigation system using global positioning systems (GPS), environmental or climate control systems (such as HVAC controls), radios, CD players, auxiliary device players, video screens, DVD players, telephone systems, and other similar systems are frequently incorporated into vehicles. Controls for these systems are provided in various forms, such as, but not limited to, knobs, buttons, dials, and touch screens. More and more of the control systems are being incorporated into touch screens. Using these controls may require the driver to take his or her eyes off the road, which is dangerous. This may be particularly problematic with the increasing use of touch screen devices using virtual buttons and sliders displayed on a screen as an alternative to physical inputs. Users may interface with such devices almost exclusively by touching and/or otherwise manipulating the virtual buttons, sliders, scrollers, and the like on the screen with one or more finger(s). Because there often is no physical or “feel” distinction between virtual buttons, slides, etc., a user cannot “feel” for the location of a virtual button as was possible with physical buttons or knobs, for example. Further, graphic displays on the screen provide visual feedback responsive to the manipulation which further tempts the driver to look at the screen instead of the road.
Recent developments have allowed for voice-controlled systems for some of the vehicle systems. However, voice-controlled systems disrupt passengers in the vehicle, especially in situations where the microphone for receiving the voice command does not accurately receive or understand the voice command. This results in repetition of the command, and often causes the user to shout the command, thereby disturbing other passengers in the vehicle. Further, ambient noise such as the vehicle's entertainment system and road noise may interfere with the microphone receiving the command.
There has been some recent development in gesture based interfaces wherein a computer system can react to gestures or hand motions of a user. However, gestures based interfaces in a vehicle may not alleviate the problem of driver distraction as drivers may tend to look at a display screen or other device to ensure that a gesture based command is properly interpreted by the system. Further, accidental activation of the systems needs to be avoided. Accordingly, it would be desirable to incorporate a gesture based input system into a vehicle and to provide feedback in a manner that a user such as the driver is not distracted from the primary task of driving the vehicle.